Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

~10~

     Smoke fills my lungs, making me cough. I take off away from the burning grave, passing through the gates. I turn around and see what I have caused. The whole cemetery burns with an orange roar of fire. I created that mess. I did it. I run - no, I sprint for the castle. Managing to tear my dress.

     After I blast through the doors. I run upstairs in my room, and look around. Seeing my new skin hanging up nicely in the closet. I slide it on and I walk down stairs. Acting natural. People look at me strangely, for I have reinserted the stitches on myself. "I know I am pretty. Thank you." I say under my breath at times.

     "Princess?" A guard asks.

      "I'm Mary." I smile back and keep walking down into the dungeon. Time to go talk to Cameron. Maybe he'll enjoy my new look. Beautifully Disturbing. If he doesn't, I'll just kill him. Would that be nice? Continuing the silver lined stairs a stylist grabs me by my arm.

     "Hello. Who are you? You've never been around the palace before." He looks at me puzzled, and maybe a little scared. He examines my features, my skin tone and my body.

     "I'm... Mary. Why?"

      "Come. Come with me." He tugs on my arm and takes me into a small room. It's dull except for a stand in the middle of the floor, a mirror and a set of two large doors. "This is the styling room."

     "The styling room?" I ask. At first it's part of my act but later I realise I've mever been here before. In fact never heard of this place. How dare they have a room I haven't layed my precious foot on. "Does - does the Princess know about this room?"

     "No." He walks to the two doors and opens them slowly. "This room is for peasants who are prettier than her. For people that these dresses actually look nice on."

     "How dare you? Are you saying the Princess wouldn't look good in these?"

     "Not necessarily. These just wouldn't look special on her. Actually she's just too ugly for these dresses." He says picking one of them out of the closet. A dress that's white with special lacing and floral patterns in. it first looks like a wedding dress but, I see the average to it. "See this? This would look good on your perfect skin."

     But... this isn't my skin. My skin isn't perfect? How dare he? How could he? "You sir, are rude. Now, put that dress on me."

     "Whoa, you're rude all of a sudden." He pulls it off the hanger and I pull it on. It goes on like a glove, but I need his help to zip it up in the back. "Would you like some assitance?"

     "Yes. Yes please." He goes behind me as I look in the mirror. I look nice. I could say perfect. "How does it look?"

     "Oh it looks divine. Almost done." He fumbles for a bit, but comes to a stand still.

     "What's the hold up?" I ask receiving no response. "Hello?"

     "Nothing... except what is this?" He holds out a strand of thread. The one that holds Mary's skin on my back. He pulls it out farther and I feel it falling off of my body.

     "Stop it!"

     "Oh my - you're not a peasant. You're the Princess in someone else's skin!"

     "Shut up!"

     "Huh, wh -" I turn around and smack him. He opens his mouth to scream but I grab some cloth over his mouth. I take out a knife I hold in my breast for emergency's. I slash his neck open and he makes a gurgle noise. His eyes roll back as he holds his neck trying to keep the blood in. I stab his eye socket and his chest.

     I tie up the string and put the rest in the dress. I zip it up in a few moments of struggle. The dress has a tail, that trails behind me. I push his body into the closet. Locking it from the outside. "That should hold you." I say smiling.

     I walk out of the room, worried if someone saw or heard something. A servant walks by me. Staring at me. "Miss, why do you have a stain on your dress."

     "A stain?" I look down to where my hand is. Pure red all on my hands and on the dress. "Oh my."

     "Have you been eating grape jelly?"

     "No. I haven't. I must go." I run down the steps with the knife back in my hiding place. No more stalling. I must go down to Cameron's cell. I finally reach the dungeon and look around. I grab a candle with hot wax coming down the side. I scream with pain going from hurt to a soothing burn.

     "Hello?" A sickly voice says.

     "Cameron?" I call back.

     "If you're that rotten Princess you can just leave."

    "Don't worry." I walk over with the melting candle still poised in my hand. "It's me. Mary."

     He seems to be happy. So excited. I hug him through the bars of the cell. "That mean Princess didn't kill you?"

    "Uh, no. She didn't kill me." I say back.

     "Mary, I love you."